Chrystia Freeland, the Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, has unexpectedly resigned due to disagreements with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
On December 16, Freeland announced her resignation just hours before she was scheduled to deliver a statement on the state of the economy for the fall.
In a letter to Trudeau that was subsequently posted to her social media account, the outgoing deputy prime minister said she had no choice but to resign after Trudeau approached her Friday about moving her to another cabinet role.
“On Friday, you told me you no longer want me to serve as your Finance Minister and offered me another position in the cabinet,” Freeland wrote, addressing Trudeau. “Upon reflection, I have concluded that the only honest and viable path is for me to resign from the cabinet.”
She clarified that in recent weeks, she and Trudeau had disagreed on how Canada should balance its spending in preparation for expected actions by the new U.S. administration, as former President Donald Trump threatened high tariffs on Canada.
